1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a method of manufacturing liquid-crystal elements, in which etching residue defects between stripe patterns are repaired using solutions which can selectively etch transparent electrodes or metallic wiring.
2. Description of the Related Art
Flat type liquid-crystal display apparatus are formed of dot matrix type liquid-crystal display elements. Recently, attention has been directed to large screen and large capacity display apparatus, which require dot-forming electrodes with low resistance. In the apparatus, metallic wiring patterns employed as auxiliary electrodes are laminated on a transparent electrode of indium oxide (ITO) or the like. However, as the number of dot matrix pixels has increased, the space between electrodes has become narrow and technology for repairing defects (as well as methods for improving the yield during patterning) have become important. Hitherto, stripe-shaped transparent electrode residue defects and metallic wiring pattern residue defects have been repaired by etching solutions having no selectivity.
However, in the prior art described above and, as shown in FIG. 7, an etchant 12, which has no selectivity for the stripe pattern of the transparent electrode 2 and the metallic wiring 4, is commonly used as an etching solution. Since all the defective portions on the transparent electrode 3 and the metallic wiring pattern 5 are etched together when there is a defective portion 9 in a photoresist, a portion 13 (where the transparent electrode and the metallic wiring are disconnected) occur as shown in FIGS. 7(f) and 8, causing a problem such as a line defect.
To prevent the above-mentioned line defect, complex processing steps are performed, namely, first, a resist image for repairing transparent electrode residue defects is formed. After the transparent electrode residue defect is repaired, the resist image is peeled off. Then, a resist image is formed, and the metallic wiring pattern residue defect is repaired.
In an alternative commonly-used method of etching, the defective portion where etching residue remains between stripe patterns are cut out by a laser. However, matter scattered during cutting (or warping of the cut-out portion) may occurs, causing a gap defect of the panel or a short-circuit between upper and lower substrates.